Soccer Lessons
by shouvley
Summary: How Viola and Justin first got together


Viola Hastings loved soccer. It was her sole purpose for getting out of bed most mornings. She had a pretty good life. Nice house, decent parents, but before she discovered soccer she just felt like something was missing. Her mother enrolled her in ballet and gymnastics as a child but neither took. Looking back it was probably the ballet that helped her be so agile on the field.

One day she was kicking the ball around, working on a new move. She had just finished her junior season and in the championship game she had gotten out worked by her counterpart on the opposing team. So she was taking this opportunity to work the move she had spent hours studying on the game tape. Around her tenth try it was starting to cloud over and looked like rain. Her goal was to be completely invincible by next season so she couldn't let a little rain get in the way of getting recruited by North Carolina. She would be a Tar Heel yet. The rain was still holding off when she heard a familiar voice behind her.  
"You know if you turned your foot out a little more you'd get a lot better spin on the ball."

She spun around to find Justin, captain of the boys soccer team, standing behind her. She looked at him another second, shrugged her shoulders and kicked the ball again. This time the ball went exactly where she wanted it to.

"Thanks," she said. "I could've been at this for hours." "Well, it's the least I could do. After all, you did hook up with those sweet tickets to the concert your brother was opening for," he replied. "Thanks again for those"

"No problem what-so-ever. It was a lot of fun." Awkward silence. "So what are you doing here?"

He looked away for a second then back to her. "I don't really know. I was walking by the field and I saw you out here so I thought I'd come say 'Hi'," he said all in one breath.

"Well, hi." She looked from him to the ball hoping to come up with something interesting to say before the moment was gone.

He looked at her. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." He turned to leave. Damn, bye-bye moment. Maybe not.

"Wait," she called. He turned to face her. "Can you guard the goal for me for just a second? I want to try a new transition I've been working on."

He smiled. "Sure." He walked over to the goal and took up his stance. She worked the ball with her foot just long enough for him to get settled then she started her combination of amazing move after amazing move. She pulled back, aimed over his left shoulder, and fired. He lunged for it but it was pretty obvious he wasn't giving it his all as it went behind him and into the net.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Couldn't get to it," he replied. "Don't go easy on me because I'm a girl. I want to know I scored because I'm good, not because you don't want to make me feel bad. Will you try this time?"

"Sure, okay"

She did the exact same combo again and he easily stopped the ball. He threw it back to her. "Try to sell the fake-out a little harder. You lunge that way but it doesn't look like you're actually going."

After five more tries and tips she finally got it past him when he was full out. He pulled the ball out of the net and walked over to her. He handed her the ball and looked into her eyes. "You're really good you know." She started to nod but he continued, "But you could be great if you'd let me help you. Do you want to get together sometime and work out again?"

She focused on his blue eyes and forgot she was going to protest that she didn't need the help. "That would be great," she said, inching closer. "I'm always looking for a fresh perspective."

He took another step closer and took her face in his hands. He kissed her, and while he was doing so she found herself thinking, 'He would be a much better kisser if he would stop shoving his tongue down my throat. Oh, well. Lots of time to work on that'. She kissed him back when they broke apart he put his arm around her shoulders to walk her home. As soon as they made it inside the rain started to fall. She smiled to herself, reflecting on her great day. And she had a feeling there were many more great days to come.


End file.
